Qundez Carter helps Westover top Northside

The Westover Patriots used a healthy dose of Qundez Carter and two stops inside their own 5-yard line to take control in the second half and earn a 31-10 victory over Northside-Columbus Friday night at Kinnett Stadium.

Carter had touchdown runs of 43, 10 and 98 – all in the second half – and finished the game with 11 carries for 251 yards and three touchdowns. Westover outscored Northside 19-0 in the final two quarters to pull away for its second straight win.

Westover finished the game with 543 yards of offense, 300 of which came in the second half. Led by Carter’s stellar perfomance, Westover racked up 384 rushing yards and added another 159 passing as they had success moving the ball most of the night.

Despite Westover’s gaudy numbers, neither team was able to generate much offense in the first quarter. A short punt by Northside gave Westover the ball at Northside’s 48-yard line, but Westover turned the ball over on downs at Northside’s 24. Northside got as deep as the Westover 34 but was forced to punt.

Westover (2-1) got on the board first with 6:48 to go in the second quarter on a 3-yard touchdown run by quarterback Emory McKenzie. The score was set up by a 43-yard pass from McKenzie to Jysanti Richardson. However, Northside took just 38 seconds and three plays to answer as Kalan Watts took a handoff from Levi Dunn and sprinted 39 yards for a touchdown to give the Patriots a 7-6 lead.

Westover didn’t trail for long, though, as it went 80 yards in five plays and took only 77 seconds to re-take the lead on a 1-yard run by McKenzie. However, Westover’s two-point conversion failed, leaving the score 12-7 with 4:43 remaining before halftime.

Northside (1-2) did get the final points of the half on a 52-yard field goal by Nathan Robertson with 20 seconds to go to make it 12-10.

Westover – which has advanced to the second round of the state playoffs each of the last two years – outgained Northside 243 yards to 91 in the opening two quarters as McKenzie went 12-for-17 for 159 yards passing and added another 20 yards and two touchdowns on seven carries. Richardson was McKenzie’s top target with four catches for 86 yards and Devantae Seay added four catches for 41 yards.

Northside was hurt by only going 1-for-7 on third-down conversions in the first half, punting the ball five times in the opening 24 minutes. Watts had 63 yards on 10 carries, but 58 of those yards came on just two carries.

Westover pushed its lead to 18-10 on its opening possession of the second half, taking just 2:11 and seven plays to go 80 yards and score on a 43-yard run by Carter. Northside had a great chance to respond, recovering a fumble at Westover’s 16-yard line. However, the Patriots’ offense sputtered and Robertson missed a 29-yard field goal to keep it 18-10 Westover.

On its next possession, Westover went 80 yards in 10 plays to score again on a 10-yard run by Carter to put Westover up 24-10 late in the third quarter. Carter had four carries for 43 yards on the drive and had 152 yards and two touchdowns on his first nine carries of the game.

Northside responded by driving inside Westover’s 10-yard line, but a run on fourth-and-goal from the 4-yard line came up short, giving Westover the ball on its own 2. Northside got the ball back on Westover’s 40 following a punt and got inside Westover’s 5-yard line, but again handed the ball over on downs at Westover’s 2.

Carter then broke Northside’s back with a 98-yard touchdown run on a third-and-10 from Westover’s 2 that put Westover ahead 31-10 with 5:13 remaining. It was academic from there, as Northside didn’t have another first down in the game. Watts finished with 120 yards on 19 carries for Northside in the loss.

Westover will play host to Cairo at Hugh Mills Stadium next Friday.